Oscars Fortnight: Scent of a Woman

Scent of a Woman (1992)

65th Academy Awards (1993)
Nominations: 4
Wins: 1

“What kind of a show are you guys putting on here today?” This clip, from Pacino’s big “courtroom” scene at the end of Scent of a Woman opened up every episode of the podcast Filmspotting, or at least did for as long as I listened to it until Matty Ballgame left. So to me, it’s just about as iconic a Pacino quote as there can be. And the Nineties were a very quotable period for Big Al, giving us hits like “she’s got a great ass and you’ve got your head all the way up it” and “just when I think I’m out they pull me back in.” So since I was in the area already, I figured I should probably finally watch this damn thing. Hoo-ah!

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Oscars Fortnight: The Godfather Part III

The Godfather Part III (1990)

63rd Academy Awards (1991)
Nominations: 7
Wins: 0

This year we waited until there was less than half a fortnight until the Oscars to start our annual review series, so welcome to Oscars WEAK: a week of reviews of best picture winners and nominees. For my part, I’ll be starting with 1990’s The Godfather Part III, or, more specifically, the recut version director Francis Ford Coppola put out in 2020 for its 30th anniversary: The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone. It’s the end of a journey that started late last year when YouTube started randomly(?) showing me clips from 2022 miniseries The Offer, the Miles Teller-led streaming prestige project about the production of the first Godfather (and how ultimately it was just as important as The Longest Yard). Intrigued by the amusing voices the entire cast seemed to be doing, I eventually caved and watched the whole thing, and, naturally, after those 10 episodes I had to rewatch The Godfather and then Part II. And you know what, they’re still pretty good.

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Shocktober: Last Night in Soho

Last Night in Soho (2021)

After three posts where I struggled to even find anything resembling an interesting angle to write about, I conclude my Shocktober with a movie that overwhelmed me with too many options. Not one to lightly repeat himself, Edgar Wright’s return to the horror genre after Shaun of the Dead was highly anticipated, especially after a pandemic delay. Last Night in Soho was hyped up as a proper spooky story, without the comedy elements Wright was known for, as well as his first film with women as main characters instead of just love interests. Was that too much of a departure for him to handle? Yeah dude.

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Shocktober: Thir13en Ghosts

Thir13en Ghosts (2001)

The 13 Ghosts remake, playfully titled Thir13en Ghosts, is a challenging movie to rate. It’s a tight 90-minutes of campy, extremely 2000s filmmaking. It’s also a horror movie that’s not scary at all, with an objectively dreadful script. So what should I do with that? I guess it’s really all in that title: a silly leetspeak rendering of a cult classic gimmick movie. At the time, I could understand critics ripping into 13 Ghosts. But now? Now it’s a nostalgic link to the days when I would have maybe rented something like this for a sleepover.

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Shocktober: What Lies Beneath

What Lies Beneath (2000)

If you want to know what “blank check” filmmaking is like, look no further than Robert Zemeckis in 1999. In the middle of shooting the cursed Cast Away, they decided to take a long hiatus so that Tom Hanks could lose a bunch of weight and grow his hair and beard all crazy. I don’t know how you’re supposed to spend your break away from a technically-innovative, $90 million-dollar A-list project shot on location on an island in Fiji, but Zemeckis decided to take his crew and shoot another $100 million-dollar movie with even more A-listers. What Lies Beneath is a profoundly Hitchcock-influenced thriller starring Michelle Pfeiffer, that white gold, and Harrison Ford, that grumpy old. Was Zemeckis biting off more than he could chew? You know, I’m not sure.

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Criterion Month Day 30: Weekend

Weekend (2011)

Another year, another Criterion Month, already a fading memory, soft and delicate, like a confessional whispered into a tape recorder. Much like Glen records his subjects speaking of love and intimacy in Andrew Haigh’s subdued romantic drama Weekend. Yet again, I’m saying farewell to Criterion Month with an Andrew Haigh film, despite my ongoing struggle to articulate what it is he does best: people talking.

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Criterion Month Day 29: Infernal Affairs III

Infernal Affairs III (2003)

It’s a cliche at this point but, if you don’t mind indulging me, Infernal Affairs III makes Infernal Affairs II look like Infernal Affairs. Released just a year after the first movie, Infernal Affairs III exists to show fools like me that I had no idea what was *really* going on back when I enjoyed the story that would one day become The Departed. Is dumping this much lore on top of an already dense story a good idea? As a Star Wars fan, I feel confident in saying: eh, sometimes, I guess, but usually no!

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